"A mother can read all the child-rearing books and can subscribe to any theory of parenting, but what gets passed along to her children is something far more intimate and mysterious than anything contained therein. What gets passed along is her character, and it enters into her kids as surely and as inexorably as water flows from a fuller vessel into a less-full one." Laurence Shames

Exactly one year ago, I wrote a post in which I mentioned the struggles I was having with Christianity, specifically my own pursuit of “correct doctrine.” For all my Christian life, I had believed that being a “good” Christian meant having … Continue reading →

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WARNING! We live on a farm and butcher our own animals. We have never sheltered our children from this experience. Graphic details to follow… Last night, a friend came to visit and told us about a boil she’d had to … Continue reading →

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“When we hear people referred to as animals or aliens… ‘disgusting,’ ‘ingrates,’ ‘pigs,’ ‘retard,’ ‘fag,’ ‘bitch,’ or other labels… we should immediately wonder, ‘is this an attempt to reduce someone’s humanity so we can get away with hurting them or … Continue reading →

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“Every action, thought and feeling is motivated by an intention, and that intention is a cause that exists as one with an effect. If we participate in the cause, it is not possible for us not to participate in the … Continue reading →

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. You want to say “no.” You want to say “no,” but you feel like you can’t. You want to say “no,” but you feel that you shouldn’t. You want to say “no,” even though… even despite… even if… Yet … Continue reading →

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A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about self-respect. One theme running through that article was the concept of boundaries in relationships. Saying “no” when that’s what your heart is telling you, regardless of outside pressure to say “yes” … Continue reading →

The children and I have been sending emails to each other lately, just for fun. The other day we were talking about our kitchen experiments (See Friday’s blog post and also all of these) and that night my oldest daughter … Continue reading →